Saturday, September 28, 2013

LACEY, Washington--Saint Martin's Joe Berger (left/photo courtesy Saint Martin's University) took the victory in the Saint Martin's Invitational cross country race on the SMU campus, covering the 8k course in a time of 26:31.

Berger's win helped lead the Saints to a second place team finish with 54 points, finishing behind Alaska-Fairbanks, who scored 22 points.

Seattle Pacific's Adam Avischious was the first Falcon across the line in fifth in 27:07.

The Falcons finished third with a score of 80 points.

Seattle Pacific freshman Hannah Calvert led four Falcons in the top ten across the line as they took the team title at the Saint Martin's Invitational on the campus of Saint Martin's University.

Calvert finished fourth overall, and fellow frosh Claire Rachwitz led a group of three SPU runners across the line in eighth, ninth and 10th, factoring into the winning total of 27 points in the meet on the Saint Martin's campus. That was enough to edge Alaska Fairbanks by three points. The host Saints had 69.

In Saturday's 6-kilometer race at Saint Martin's on a course made muddy and sloppy by a torrential downpour, Calvert finished in 23 minutes, 51 seconds. She was the first collegiate runner across the line, as Heather Spinney of the Spirit of Oregon won in 23:08.

Both Saint Martin's and Seattle Pacific return to action next week at the Charles Bowles Invitational hosted by Willamette University in Salem, Oregon.

The UW Daily, the school's student newspaper, ran a piece on the Huskies' Justine Johnson (left/photo by Paul Merca), a fifth year senior who has emerged as a leader. You can read the piece here.

Former Eastern Washington standout Mattie Suver, who ran for Team USA at last spring's IAAF World Cross Country Championships in Bydgoszcz, Poland, is entered in the New York City Marathon on November 3rd.

The New York Road Runners has a piece on Suver, who now lives in Colorado Springs, and is part of the American Distance Project group based in that state. You can read her story here.

Sunday, September 22, 2013

NEW YORK--Washington State University alum Bernard Lagat (left/photo by Paul Merca) ended his season with a second place finish to New Zealand's Nick Willis in the NYRR Fifth Avenue Mile on the streets of New York.

Lagat and 2012 Olympic 1500m silver medalist Leo Manzano took the lead early, before Will Leer took charge at the half mile mark. However, Willis, the 2008 Olympic silver medalist at 1500m took charge with a quarter mile to go, and held on for the win in 3:52.1, as Lagat made a late charge to overtake Garrett Heath in the last few meters to take second in 3:52.9.

In the women's race, UW alum Katie Mackey was ninth in 4:28.1, as world championships 1500m silver medalist Jenny Simpson took the win in 4:19.3.

Saturday, September 21, 2013

SPOKANE VALLEY--Gonzaga University’s Kyle Branch and Lauren Bergam(left/photos courtesy Gonzaga University) both made a statement Saturday at the Erik Anderson Invitational cross country meet at Plantes Ferry as they paced a strong Bulldog contingent.

Both finished fourth in their respective races, Bergam in 21:57 over the 6K women’s layout and Branch in 25:47 in the 8K men’s race.

The meet was a preview of the course that will be used for the NCAA Division II championships in November, and squads from both Western Washington and Central Washington were among the teams in the meet.

The women's 6k was won by Dani Walker of Lipscomb University in Nashville, who ran 21:40, as five runners from that school placed in the top ten, including Glacier Peak HS grad Katie Bianchini, who was sixth in 22:04.

Western Washington's Katelyn Steen was the Vikings' top finisher in 19th in 22:38. Central Washington's Dani Eggleston was their top finisher in 40h in 23:10.

The Washington State Cougars sent a limited women's squad after last week's Sundodger Invitational, and they were led by Steffie Pavey's who was 20th in 23:22.

Lipscomb won with a score of 20 points with Gonzaga third with 71 points. Western was ninth with 272, with Central tenth with 287, and the Cougars in 15th at 401.

In the men's 8k race, Sam Atkin of Lewis-Clark took the victory in a time of 25:15, as Lipscomb put four runners in the top ten.

Central Washington's top runner was Rudy Spencer in 56th in 27:08, while Matt Lutz led Western in 76th in 27:34.

Lipscomb won with 40 points, with Gonzaga second at 77. Western Washington was 11th at 344, with Central 13th with 377 points.

In Bozeman, Montana, the Eastern Washington men finished fourth at the Montana State Invitational, led by Chris Schroll's eleventh place finish over the 5 mile course in 25:58.

Host Montana State took the team title with 33 points, followed by Utah State's 36, and Utah Valley's 76 points, with the Eagles scoring 97.

Cristian Soratos of the host school won the individual title in 25:09.

In the women's 3 mile race, the Eagles finished seventh with a score of 155 points, as Utah State won the team tithe with 44 over the host school's 60 points, with Pac-12 member Utah third with 77 points.

Sarah Reiter led Eastern Washington with her 18th place finish in 18:08.

Washington State University hall of famer Bernard Lagat, along with Washington grad Katie Mackey are among those competing in Sunday's NYRR Fifth Avenue Mile on the streets of New York City.

"This is the perfect place to end the season," said Lagat, the 2011 victor and last year's runner-up. "The Fifth Avenue Mile is different than a regular mile. It's different from what we run on the track and the atmosphere is great. Bringing the best athletes from all over the world, I'm real excited."

"It's something that is more relaxing to do. You have no stress like U.S. Nationals where you have to make the team," said Lagat. "That is why this event produces the fastest results."

"This is the last one, no stress, but you are going to take it serious and do your best," said Lagat. "At the end, when you cross that line, the season is over and it is the best feeling."

Thursday, September 19, 2013

There was some significant shuffling of the deck in the first regular season national collegiate cross country rankings that were released by the USTFCCCA on Tuesday and Wednesday.

In Division I, the University of Washington women's team dropped two spots to number 7 from its pre-season ranking of #5. With the news that Megan Goethals (left/photo by Paul Merca) will miss the season with a season-ending stress fracture of her femur, the voters felt it necessary to drop the Dawgs. Their drop was not significant, as the voters took Katie Flood's convincing win at Saturday's Sundodger Invitational into account.

In Division II, the Western Washington men's team took a hit from their pre-season #16 ranking, as they tumbled all the way out of the national top 25.

Western Washington and Central Washington will compete in Saturday's Erik Anderson Invitational in Spokane Valley, along with Washington State and Gonzaga. The Erik Anderson meet serves as a preview of the course used for the NCAA Division II championships in November.

Lost in the shuffle between the end of the world championships and the start of the collegiate cross country season was a release by the World Athletics Center in Phoenix a few weeks ago announcing that Washington State alum Jeshua Anderson (left/photo by Paul Merca) will move there to train under coaches Dan Pfaff and Andreas Behm.

"With Dan Pfaff being there, Andreas Behm and John Godina, there is so much experience between all three of them. Dan Pfaff is like the guru. He was very excited for me to come out. After talking to the coaches I am excited to be out there training in the warm weather all year round."

Anderson, the 2011 USA and NCAA national champion in the 400 hurdles, trained in Pullman this past season, but felt that it was time to make a change. He joins a training group that includes 110 high hurdles world record holder and Olympic champion Aries
Merritt in Phoenix.

Saturday, September 14, 2013

With apologies to Eminem, Washington's Katie Flood (left/photo by Paul Merca) appears to be rounding back to the form of two seasons ago, when she was one of the country's top middle distance runners, as Flood won the invitational women's 6k race at the Sundodger Invitational at Lincoln Park Saturday.

Flood went to the front almost immediately, with Wenatchee native Hannah Kiser and Oregon State's Kinsey Gomez attempting to stick with the 2012 NCAA 1500 meter champ.

In the end, Flood, the native of Des Moines, Iowa, motored through the Lincoln Park course to score a convincing win, crossing the line in 20:25, 19 seconds ahead of second place finisher and Idaho assistant coach Allix Potratz-Lee, competing for the Vandal Track Club.

Finishing third was freshman Katie Knight of the Huskies in 20:47, the same time credited to teammate Liberty Miller in fourth. Sophomore Maddie Meyers was fifth in 20:48, followed by Kiser in 20:50.

Gomez was seventh in 20:55, with Emily Weber of Oregon State eighth in 21:08. Halie Raudenbush of Idaho was ninth in 21:14, with the Huskies' Eleanor Fulton rounding out the top ten in 21:15.

Afterwards, Washington head coach Greg Metcalf expressed that if he had the services of freshman Amy-Eloise Neale and All-American Megan Goethals, that his squad might have scored a perfect 15 points.

Washington, the country's #5 ranked team in the pre-season USTFCCCA coaches poll, rolled to an easy win with 19 points, followed by Oregon State at 58 points, and Idaho with 87.

Washington's four other Division I schools took the last four spots, with Gonzaga fourth at 110, SeattleU fifth at 120, Washington State sixth at 146, and Eastern Washington seventh at 219.

In the men's 8k race, a large pack of runners were together for the first three laps of the 4-lap race, until Washington's Aaron Nelson and Chico State's Isaac Chavez made a break on the final lap.

Nelson scored a two-second win over Chavez, 23:51-23:53, with the Huskies' Tyler King third in 24:06.

UW redshirt Sumner Goodwin, competing unattached, was fourth in 24:09, the same time as Gonzaga's Nick Roche in fifth.

Washington State's Andrew Kimpel, who only has track eligibility remaining for the Cougs, was sixth in 24:11, followed by the Huskies' Meron Simon in seventh in 24:13.

The Cougars' Andrew Gonzales was eighth in 24:14, followed by Dayne Gradone of Chico State in the same time, and Idaho's Cody Helbling tenth in 24:15.

Washington won the team title with 30 points, followed by WSU at 52, and Gonzaga a close third with 57. Seattle University was sixth with 167 points.

In the women's open 6k race, Sarah Inglis of Trinity Western won in 21:13, seven seconds ahead of Canadian world cross country competitor Maria Bernard of the University of British Columbia.

Simon Fraser's Lindsey Butterworth was third in a time of 21:30.

Western Washington's Katelyn Steen was the first Washington collegian across the line in eleventh at 21:54.

It was a Canadian sweep of the top three teams, with British Columbia winning with 38 points over Simon Fraser's 56, and Trinity Western third with 117. Western Washington was fourth at 124, followed by Seattle Pacific's 151.

The men's open 8k race was won by Dak Riek, who was competing unattached. The Western Washington All-American took command on the last lap to score a 24:43 to 24:47 win over the University of British Columbia's Jack Williams.

Tyler Shipley of Pacific/Oregon was third in 24:50, followed by Alan DenAdel of Pacific Lutheran in 24:58.

Chico State won the open men's team competition with 36 points, followed by UBC at 60, and Western Washington at 77 points.

In a short conversation with Metcalf, he stated that he does not have a timetable for Goethals' return to Washington, but added that she has the support of her teammates, as she goes home to help her mother, and recover from her injury.

Thursday, September 12, 2013

Washington State makes its first appearance at theSundodger Invitational since 2008 (WSU photo)

For the first time in quite a while, all nine Washington NCAA Division I and II schools will run at this Saturday's Sundodger Invitational cross country meet at Lincoln Park, hosted by the University of Washington.

Action gets underway at 9 am with the women's open 6k race, featuring all four Washington NCAA D2 schools--Seattle Pacific, Western Washington, Central Washington, and Saint Martin's, with the Falcons coming off an impressive showing in Alaska last weekend, led by McKayla Fricker, who won both races in Fairbanks.

Western Washington will counter with veteran Katelyn Steen and newcomer Lillianna Stelling, who won last week's Central Washington Apple Ridge Invitational. Lindsey Butterworth from Simon Fraser will also have something to say. Simon Fraser, which is ranked #13 in the USTFCCCA pre-season national poll, along with Seattle Pacific and Western Washington, are the teams to watch in this race, though some post-collegiate teams may have a say (entries were not posted on the host UW web site as of this writing).

Following the women's open, the men's open 8k race takes place, featuring #16 Western Washington, led by senior All American Dak Riek, and Chip Jackson. On paper, the Vikings are the class of the field.

After the high school girls varsity 5k race at 10:25, the women's invitational 6k gets underway featuring the #5 ranked Washington Huskies, along with the other four Washington NCAA D1 schools--Washington State, Gonzaga, SeattleU, and Eastern Washington, with Oregon State and Idaho thrown in the fire as well.

For the Cougars of WSU, this meet marks their first appearance at the Sundodger since 2008.

University of British Columbia's Maria Bernard, who ran for Canada at the world cross country championships, along with Idaho's Hannah Kiser from Wenatchee, Washington State's Ruby Roberts, and SeattleU's Hannah Mittlestaedt are among those who could contend for top individual honors. Gonzaga may be the sleeper team to watch after their performance two weeks ago in Spokane, though a fast improving Oregon State squad may have something to say.

At 11:35, the men's 8k invitational toes the line, with the team battle expected to be between the Huskies and Washington State, featuring NCAA cross country championships competitor Todd Wakefield for the Cougs, along with veterans Andrew Gonzales and Lee George. WSU's Drew Jordan is being held out of the meet.

The Dawgs are expected to counter with Tyler King, Aaron Beattie, Aaron Nelson, and Meron Simon on the front line, though freshman Andrew Gardner is projected to wear a UW uniform. Many of the Husky newcomers will run in the race, but compete unattached. Like their women's squad, coach Pat Tyson's Gonzaga Bulldogs is a rapidly improving team and could make some noise.

The boy's high school varsity race goes off at 12:20, followed by the girls' and boys' JV races at 12:50 and 1:30.

Sunday, September 8, 2013

RIETI, Italy--In the final meet of the IAAF World Challenge series, University of Washington alum Katie Mackey (left/photo by Paul Merca) set a personal best in the 3000 meter run at the Rieti meeting at the Raul Guidobaldi track Sunday.

Mackey, who competes for the Seattle-based Brooks Beasts, broke 9 minutes for the first time in her career, as she finished 11th in a time of 8:59.41.

Kenya's Mercy Cherono, the silver medalist over 5000 meters at the recent IAAF world championships in Moscow, took the victory in 8:35.97, leading a 1-2-3 Kenyan sweep.

Emily Infeld was the first American across the line in fifth in 8:41.43.

Saturday, September 7, 2013

YAKIMA--With the team's goal to give younger runners experience, freshman Lillianna Stelling(left/photo courtesy Western Washington) took individual honors and fellow frosh Sofia Marikis placed fourth as Western Washington University took the women's team title at the Central Washington University Cross Country Invitational held Saturday at Apple Ridge Run.

Stelling won by 12 seconds, completing the 4,000-meter course in 15:48. Marikis was timed in 16:26.

WWU posted a low score of 35 points, eight better than Northwest Nazarene in the four-team field. Host Central Washington was third with 52 points, led by Connie Morgan's third place finish (16:14), and Dani Eggleston's seventh place finish (16:33).

Also finishing among the top 10 for the Viking women were Haley O'Connor in ninth in 16:45, and Arielle Walton in tenth in 16:46.

The Viking men, paced by team co-captain Tanner Boyd also placed first. They bested the six-team field with 37 points, as host Central finished second with 51.

Boyd was sixth, touring the 6,000-meter course in 20:44. Taking the individual crown in 20:07 was Pacific Lutheran's Alan DenAdel.

Three other WWU men placed among the top 10. Ryan Peterson was seventh in 20:45. Tying for ninth at 20:54 were Dustin Sjoerdsma and Dylan Peterson.

Central Washington had one runner in the top ten, as Rudy Spencer was third in 20:13.

In Fairbanks, Alaska, Seattle Pacific's McKayla Fricker won the short-course event at the Alaska Cross Country Invitational, leading her squad to the team title.

With senior Fricker coming across the 4-kilometer finish line in 15 minutes, 9 seconds, and all four of her teammates making it into the top 10, SPU compiled the day's low score of 27 points. Montana State Billings was second with 43, and host Alaska Fairbanks was third with 50.

As they did on Thursday, sophomore Anna Patti and freshman Sarah Macdonald were the second and third Falcons across the line. Patti, a runner-up two days ago, was third this time in 15:28, and Macdonald was fifth in 15:43.

Turner Wiley, as he did in the long course on Thursday, again led Seattle Pacific in the men's race, crossing the line in 12:58. Wiley came home in sixth place, and the Falcons tied Alaska Fairbanks for second with 54 points. Montana State Billings again was well ahead of the field, winning with 17 points.

Sophomore Adam Avischious was eighth in 13:10, the only other Falcon to crack the top ten.

Friday night, Saint Martin's competed at the Portland State Viking Classic at Blue Lake Park outside of Portland against a field that included two other NCAA D-1 schools in the University of Oregon, and the University of Portland.

Joe Berger was the top finisher for SMU in 28th in 21:32 over a four mile course.

In the women's three-mile race, freshman Kenna Fosnacht was Saint Martin's top finisher in 49th place in 18:50.

Friday, September 6, 2013

BRUSSELS, Belgium--Washington State University alum Bernard Lagat (left/photo by Paul Merca) finished second in the 5000 meter run in the final IAAF Diamond League meet of the season, the Belgacom Memorial Van Damme at the King Baudouin Stadium.

The 38-year old American record holder in this event ran a season best time of 12:58.99, marking the fourth consecutive season that he's broken 13 minutes, and sixth season in his career with a sub-13 clocking.

After pacesetters Garrett Heath and Vincent Rono led the field through 3000 meters in 7:52.02, a group of nine men, including fellow Americans Galen Rupp and Evan Jager stuck together for the next four-plus laps.

At the bell, Lagat, who was positioned in fourth, moved past Rupp as the field entered the backstretch, positioning himself on the outside shoulder of the leader for the mad dash home, taking the lead with 200 to go.

As they entered the final straightaway, Ethiopia's Yenew Alamirew, who was ninth at this event at the world championships in Moscow a few weeks ago, turned the tables on Lagat, shooting past him on the outside with about 80 meters to go, taking the win in 12:58.75.

After Lagat, Hagos Gebrhiwet of Ethiopia, the silver medalist in this event in Moscow was third in 12:59.33.

TRACK SHORTS: University of Washington alum Katie Mackey of the Brooks Beasts is on the start list for the 3000 meters for Sunday's Rieti Meeting, the final stop on the IAAF World Challenge meet of the season.

Mackey's run two meets in the month of August, winning the Falmouth Mile on the 10th in 4:41.39, and an 800 meter race last Saturday (8/31) in Amsterdam in 2:05.19

Thursday, September 5, 2013

FAIRBANKS, Alaska--Behind the 1-2 finish by Seattle Pacific's McKayla Fricker and Anna Patti (above/photo courtesy Seattle Pacific University), the Falcons won the women's team title in the Alaska Cross Country Invitational long-course race Thursday night at the West Ridge Ski Trails.

Fricker, who was an NCAA Division II All-American both indoors and outdoors last season in the 800 meters, and was part of the squad that made it to the NCAA Division II Championships last fall, finished the 6K course in 22 minutes, 59 seconds, and Patti was next across the finish line in 23:14 as SPU tallied the evening's low total of 29 points. That easily beat runner-up Montana State Billings (40) and host Alaska Fairbanks (55).

In the men's 8K race, the Falcons' Turner Wiley, fully healthy after missing all of the 2012 regular season with an injury, established himself as the team's front runner with a sixth-place finish behind a pack of five Billings runners, stopping the watch in 26:55.

That gave the Yellowjackets a perfect score of 15, with Fairbanks second (56) and Seattle Pacific third (66).

Robert Peterson of Montana State Billings took the win in 26:13.

This meet marked the cross country coaching debuts of SPU track/cross country program head Karl Lerum and new assistant coach Audra Smith.

All three teams face each other Saturday in the short-course race over a 4k distance.

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

For the state's four NCAA Division II schools--Seattle Pacific, Saint Martin's, Western Washington--this marks the opening weekend for each school's cross country teams, and the start of the road that each school hopes will end across the state in Spokane at the NCAA Division II championships.

The new-look Seattle Pacific Falcons, with head track coach Karl Lerum promoted to director of track & field/cross country and new assistant Audra Smith, formerly from the University of Washington running the show, head to the West Ridge Ski Trails near the campus of Alaska Fairbanks for the Alaska Cross Country Invitational. The long-course race (8 kilometers for men, 6 for women) is set for Thursday evening, and the short-course race (4K for both genders) is Saturday morning.

The Falcons lost Katie Thralls to graduation, and Robyn Zeidler is no longer with the team. On the men's side, Jordan Wolfe, and AJ Baker, who led the team at last year's meets in Alaska, are graduated.

However, SPU has four returning runners on the women's side that ran in the top seven, and three from last year's men's squad to build their team around.

The women's team is led by junior Jasmine Johnson and soph Lynelle Decker (above/photo courtesy Seattle Pacific), along with senior McKayla Fricker, all of whom have NCAA championship meet experience.

A trio of juniors--Turner Wiley, Ryan Alcantara, and Alex Horton--are expected to be the front runners for the Falcons this season.

Friday, Saint Martin's competes in Portland at the Portland State Viking Classic in Portland.

Sunday, September 1, 2013

Bernard Lagat (left/photo by Paul Merca) dropped down in distance to 1500 meters and finished sixth in the ISTAF meeting at the Olympiastadion Sunday.

The Washington State University hall of famer ran 3:37.62, as Ilham Tanui Özbilen of Turkey, an Olympic finalist last year, took the win in 3:35.58, followed by James Magut of Kenya (3:36.29) and Hoiyu Tesfaye of Germany (3:36.62).

in the men's 800, Tacoma's Matt Scherer served as the pacemaker as world champion Mohammed Aman of Ethiopia took the win in 1:43.97.

Saturday, Gonzaga's men's and women's teams scored sweeps of Washington State and Eastern Washington at the Clash of the Inland Northwest meet at Mead HS outside of Spokane.

In the men's 6k race, Sam Atkin of Lewis-Clark State took the win in 18:15, followed by Troy Fraley and Willie Milam of Gonzaga in 18:22.

WSU grad Andrew Kimpel, who only has track eligibility remaining, was fourth in 18:24, followed by the Cougars' Lee George in 18:28 to round out the top five.

Vince Hamilton was the top runner for Eastern Washington in 11th in 19:04.

In the men's team scoring (dual meet), Gonzaga won 19-40 over Eastern; 19-39 over Idaho, and 26-29 over Washington State.. Eastern beat Idaho 27-28, and lost to WSU 15-41. The Cougs beat Idaho 15-40.

In the women's 4k, Haile Raudenbush of Idaho won in 14:20, followed by Maggie Jones of Gonzaga in 14:28.

Katie Mahoney of Eastern Washington was third in 14:31, followed by Lauren Bergam and Amelia Evans of Gonzaga in 14:35, and 14:37 to finish fourth and fifth.

800 meter specialist Courtney Zalud was the Cougars' top finisher in 14:47.

The women's team scoring had Gonzaga winning 23--42 over Eastern; 22-36 over Idaho; and 18-42 over WSU. WSU beat Eastern 25-32, while Idaho took care of both WSU and Eastern by scores of 24-33, and 23-36.

As expected in an early season race, all three teams held out key runners.

Gonzaga, WSU, Eastern Washington and Idaho will see each other on September 14th at the Sundodger Invitational hosted by the University of Washington, with Seattle University and Oregon State.

We are honored to receive this award, as it comes from our peers who passionately cover the sport, and strive to continue the legacy of excellence that the late Adam Jacobs sought before his untimely passing.

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About Me

Internationally respected track and field writer Paul Merca brings his take on the sport to paulmerca.blogspot.com.
Paul was the assistant director of communications for the 1984 USA Women's Olympic Marathon Trials in Olympia, WA., and public relations director for the 1999 USA Cross Country Championships in Tacoma, WA.
The current public address announcer for the University of Washington's home track and field meets, Merca's been a media assistant to the USA national team (2001-11, 13, 15, 17) at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships.
His vast knowledge of the sport has been utilized by many of the country's sports television networks, and is a senior writer to Northwest Runner magazine. He's covered 13 IAAF World Track & Field Championships, and two Olympics.
Merca graduated from Seattle's Franklin High School in 1977, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Washington in 1981 in Communications.
He competed in track and cross country at Franklin, and ran cross country at the University of Washington.